


Get It Together, Joshua

by JOBrien42



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29750433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JOBrien42/pseuds/JOBrien42
Summary: Based on a prompt "Get it together, Joshua", Josh drags Donna to a Sunday dinner with his parents
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	Get It Together, Joshua

Noah and Esther Lyman waved from the entrance to their Westport home as their son drove off in the rental car, his pretty blonde assistant seated next to him.

The Bartlet campaign had been in Nashua, and Josh had called on Friday, saying that Leo had given them a half day on Sunday and that he’d like to come visit and, oh, would they mind if he brought his new assistant with him, if only to show her that he did in fact eat food that didn’t come in a paper sack.

Esther had smiled. Her son was hoping to get a home-cooked meal, and she wouldn’t begrudge him that. He’d talked about this new assistant - Donna - quite a bit for only having been with him for a couple weeks. Almost compulsively, she’d thought. And so her special beef stew - Josh’s favorite - was moved from Saturday’s menu to Sunday.

It had been a delightful dinner. Donna Moss was every bit as charming in person as she’d sounded over the phone, and she couldn’t take her eyes off their son. Not that he was any different, stealing furtive glances to see how she reacted to his jokes, or how she listened to the depth of insight he showed when debating the Governor’s chances with his father.

And, oh, the banter. Their son had brought a couple girls home before. And they’d been perfectly pleasant. Polite, smart, driven young women he’d met at Harvard and Yale. But none so effortlessly moved between listening with rapt attention to Joshua to needling him about his many foibles, or could take with grace his good natured ribbing in return. Donna kept him in check, and, Esther noted by their prompt arrival, on schedule.

And now they were off, back to New Hampshire, trying to get a good man elected to the Presidency. 

Noah took one look at his wife and sighed. “Don’t get your hopes too high, dear. We raised him too well. He’s never going to act on his feelings while she works for him. He probably won’t even acknowledge them, even to himself.”

Esther nodded, sadly. In their generation, a man might marry his secretary and people would scarcely bat an eye. She could see that wasn’t what her Joshua intended for that young woman, though. He’d spoken too glowingly of her intelligence and perspicacity. How she helped organize his office and how talking things through with her helped him sharpen his arguments. And what Esther had heard was how her son’s life had been made better and brighter for having Donna in it.

Esther only hoped that a day would come, when Donna had fulfilled the promise they could all see, when she’d stepped into her own and outside his shadow, that those stolen glances could turn into so much more.

And on that day, she thought, you had better get it together, Joshua.


End file.
